Local Sports Moments of 2021

While there were local sports for the majority of 2021, there are not a whole lot of moments that truly stand out to me. However, there were some great moments and games throughout the year, for one reason or another. 

My list only includes games I attended in person. Therefore, it does not include the FCIAC baseball or FCIAC softball championship games or the Cooper Cave Tournament that the Fairfield Legion team played in, and specifically Sean McAdams' home run. If I was at any of those, they would have been included on my list.  

Coverage of the games, either by me, or others, are linked below. 

So here we go (in no specific order)…..

Warde boys basketball defeats Fairfield Prep in the Fairfield Prep Holiday Classic.

Warde baseball edges Ludlowe 

• Warde took an early lead, then Ludlowe came back to tie the game, before Warde took the lead for good. 

Ludlowe football defeats Warde on Thanksgiving morning - New12's coverage cane be found here. 

Ludlowe girls basketball wins the Todd Burger Championship

• Ludlowe defeated Warde to win the Tournament Burger Memorial Tournament, named in honor of the former Fairfield Citizen sports editor. 

Warde football suicide prevention game

• In tragedy, community sometimes shines the brightest. The Warde football team and the Warde community (as well as students from Ludlowe and Prep) honored Kevin Kuczo and raised awareness for suicide prevention. 

 

 Zach Sullivan's one-hitter for Fairfield 17U Legion 

Southington defeats Ludlowe in softball state championship.

Southington scores two in the 7th. Blue Knights defeat Ludlowe 4-3 to win the Class LL state tournament #ctsb

— Shawn Sailer (@ShawnSailer) June 12, 2021

Ludlowe baseball walks-off New Canaan 

Prep baseball defeats Ludlowe in State Tournament

• While personally, as a Ludlowe coach, this was a tough loss, it was a great game. Ludlowe held a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning before Prep tied the game in the sixth and walked off with the win in the seventh to advance to the next round 

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While I didn't think there were that many big moments, there were a number of moments that stand out. Hopefully things get back to normal even more in 2021 and we have more special moments and games. 

Ludlowe Girls, Warde Boys Win Holiday Tournament Championship

It was day two of the Fairfield Holiday tournaments, as the boys JV tournament held both a consolation and championship game and the girls and boys varsity tournaments held Championship games. The JV games were held at Ludlowe, while the varsity games were at Warde. 

It was the Fairfield Ludlowe girls and the Fairfield Warde boys who came away with Holiday Tournament Championships. The Mustangs in fact came away with two, as the Warde JV boys team also won their holiday tournament. 

The Warde JV team defeated Fairfield Prep to claim the Walter Fitzgerald Tournament Championship. 

Warde JV wins the Walter Fitzgerald Holiday Tournament

The Ludlowe girls team took down Warde 49-25 to capture the Todd Burger Championship. Kaleigh Sommers and Madison Roman were named to the all-tournament team for the Falcons, as was Leah Fry and Ryanne Gulbin for the Mustangs. 

Ludlowe wins the Todd Burger Tournament

In the nightcap, it was the Warde boys team coming away with a 60-44 victory over Prep. Justyn Davis of Warde was named the 2021 tournament MVP. 

Warde wins the Fairfield Prep Holiday Classic

Fairfield Holiday Hoops

A look at the court during a break in the action of the girls game 

The Fairfield Holiday Basketball Tournaments got underway today, with the conclusions tomorrow. 

The boys have a varsity tournament, as well as a JV tournament. This tournament features the four high schools from Fairfield, Ludlowe, Warde, Fairfield Prep and Notre Dame of Fairfield. The varsity boys tournament was held at Fairfield Warde this year, as the usual home, Alumni Hall was knocked down and is being re-built. The JV tournament rotates between being hosted by Ludlowe and Warde and this year it was at Ludlowe. 

The boys JV tournament is named the Walter Fitzgerald Holiday Tournament in honor the of former Fairfield High School assistant coach and Warde head coach, who passed away from cancer in 2010. 

In the JV tournament, Warde toped Notre Dame and Prep topped Ludlowe, so Notre Dame and Ludlowe play in the consolation game, while Warde and Prep play for the championship. 

Notre Dame withdrew from the varsity tournament due to COVID, so Warde, who ND was supposed to play in the first round, got an automatic bye to the championship on Tuesday at 6pm at Warde. Ludlowe and Prep played Monday night to see who would face Warde. 

The Jesuits came away with a 49-30 victory. The game was closer than the score as Prep was able to pull away in the fourth. 

The girls also play a varsity holiday tournament. Their tournament features Ludlowe, Warde, Staples of Westport and St. Paul Catholic of Bristol. That tournament also rotates between being hosted at Ludlowe and Warde, with this years edition being at Warde. 

Their tournament is the Todd Burger Holiday Tournament, named in honor of former Fairfield Citizen Sport editor, Todd Burger, who passed away from cancer in 2006. 

Like Notre Dame for the boys, St. Paul Catholic had to back out of the girls tournament due to COVID.

 That meant Warde, just like the boys, who they were supposed to play, got an automatic bid to the championship. They would meet the winner of Ludlowe and Staples. The Falcons came away with a 56-39 win to set up an all-Fairfield championship matchup on Tuesday at 2pm at Warde. 

The tournaments, while different this year due to COVID, are always an awesome events for the teams and the community, no matter the outcome. It brings students out (shoutout to The Nest), as well as Alumni, parents, and just random town people. Day two will be different with fewer games, but hopefully the games we do have are great.